This invention relates to a method of melting silicon and, more particularly, to a method of continuously melting ultraclean or ultrapure silicon for the production of single crystal silicon wafers suitable for use in the electronics field.
Silicon wafers used in the electronic field are presently produced by sawing them from single crystal boules pulled from a liquid pool or melt of high purity silicon by a process commonly known as the Czochrolski process. This process is a batch process subject to large end losses due to the fact that generally only short boules can be produced. Because of the necessity of maintaining at all times a liquid pool of silicon having an extremely high degree of purity, refurbishing and replenishing growth between batches is both costly and diffictult to execute.
For the above reasons, it wuld be very desirable to have an efficient, low cost, controllable, continuous crystal growth process of ultrapure silicon.